NGO COMMITTEE RECOMMENDS 15 ORGANIZATIONS FOR SPECIAL CONSULTATIVE STATUS WITH ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL, FOUR FOR ROSTER STATUS

Committee on NGOs                                          

31^st Meeting (PM)                                           

NGO COMMITTEE RECOMMENDS 15 ORGANIZATIONS FOR SPECIAL CONSULTATIVE STATUS

WITH ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL, FOUR FOR ROSTER STATUS

The Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) recommended 15 NGOs for special consultative status and four NGOs for roster status with the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), as it resumed its session this afternoon.

Organizations recommended for special consultative status included the Association for Sustainable Community development; Droit à l’énergie sos futur; DrugScope; the Planetary Association for Clean Energy, Inc.; Social Action forum for Manav Adhikar; Academy of Mining Sciences; and the Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility, Inc.

Also recommended for special consultative status were the Federation of Balkan Turks & Associations for Emigrees; Earth Society Foundation, Inc.; the Eastern African Sub-Regional Support Initiative for the Advancement of Women; ODHIKAR; CESVI; Indigenous Peoples Survival Foundation; Shinji Shumeikai; Finnish Youth Cooperation (ALLIANSSI); and the Iniciativa Cuiudadana !Basta Ya!.

For roster status, the Committee recommended StarSpirit International, Inc.; BirdLife International; Accademia Internazionale de Arte Moderna; and Citizens’ Alliance for Consumer Protection of Korea (CACPK).

Organizations with general and special consultative status can attend meetings of the Council, and circulate statements of a certain length.  Those with general status can, in addition, speak at meetings and propose items for the Council’s agenda.  All NGOs with general and special consultative status must submit quadrennial reports on activities in support of the United Nations.  Organizations with roster status can attend meetings, but need not submit reports.

Applications considered this afternoon are contained in document E/C.2/2004/R.2/Add.12-16.

The Committee then turned to its resumed 2004 session, with Hanifa Mezoui, Chief of the NGO section of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, noting that some 50 deferred applications and several quadrennial reports should be on the agenda.  She proposed that the Committee’s remaining one-week session be scheduled for the beginning of September or the middle of December.

Discussing that proposal, several delegates objected that those periods conflicted with the upcoming General Assembly session, and many suggested a date in January, 2005.  After lengthy debate and a short suspension, the Committee adopted a draft oral decision that the remaining 2004 week take place from 5 to 18 January 2005, and that a two-week resumed session take place from 9 to 20 May 2005.

Also today, the Committee took note of the quadrennial reports of the Organizacion de Solidaridad de Los Pueblos de Africa, Asia y America Latina; the Association for Progressive Communications; the International Islamic Relief Organization; and New Human Rights (documents E/C.2/2004/2/Add.5).

In addition, the Committee decided to recommend that two NGOs in consultative status with the Council -- the Association for Democratic Initiatives, and the Centre de Documentation, de Recherche et d’Information des Peuples Autochtones –- be heard by the Council at its substantive session.

At the end of the meeting, Committee Chairperson Paimaneh Hasteh (Iran) informed the Committee that replies regarding special reports that had been received from the Transnational Radical Party and the Indian Movement “Tupaj Amaru” would be taken up in informal consultations.

The Committee’s membership consists of 19 countries -- 5 members from African States; 4 members from Asian States, 2 members from Eastern European States, 4 members from Latin American and CaribbeanStates, and 4 members from Western European and other States.

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